Box and handle for same



O United States Patent 13,542,281

[72] inventors Allen 1. Field 3,297,350 1/1967 l-lidding ..229/52(AL)UX 147 Valley Stream Rd.,Larchrnont, 10538; 3,315,876 4/1967 VanderJagt... 229/52(AL) Sidney P. Field, 226 Beach 134th St., Belle 3,456,865 7/1969 Frank 229/54 Harbor, New York 3,463,381 8/1969 Wainberg 229/54 1353 2 Primary Examiner-Davis T. Moorehead I Patented Nov. 1970 Attorney-James and F rankhn [54] BOX AND HANDLE FOR SAME ABSTRACT: The handle is a single molded body of plastics 10 Claims 9 Drawing Figs. material and comprises a base, a flexlble carrying strap, and connections between the ends of the strap and the base. The 229/52 base is wider and stiffer or thicker than the strap. The connec- [51] Int. Cl B65d 25/22, tions between the Strap and the base are preferably relatively 8659 5/46 straight connections which slope inwardly from the ends of the of Search trap to the base The junctions at {he ends of the trap and at 52AL, 52Aw, 54, 62, 52A the base act as hinges which permit the strap to move toward or away from the base. The strap bends convexly upward but [56] References cued may be flattened and stored compactly when not in use. The

UNITED STATES PATENTS box has overlapping panels with slots which come into regis- 2,640,645 6/1953 Brown 229/52(A) tration, and which have a length and width which is smaller 2,967,011 1/1961 Trogman 229/52(A) than that of the base of the handle but large enough for the 3,206,104 9/1965 Cohen 229/52(AL) strap of a handle to be passed therethrough.

Patented Nov. 24, 197@ INVENTORS ALLEN l. FIELD SIDNEY P. FIELD ATTORNEYS 1 BOX AND HANDLE FOR SAME which may be folded or collapsed like a bag, but the top is reinforced by two panels of cardboard which are folded one over the other, and by which the box is shaped, and to which'a carrying handle is applied. The handle for such a bag box is a short piece of heavy cord secured to a cardboard base. The

counter girl at the store must add the handle, and for this pur pose the panels have slits to receive the cord.

The general object of the present invention is to provide an improved box handle which is inexpensive; readily applied to the box, and comfortable to the fingers carrying the box. The handle is a single molded body of flexible plastics material, and comprises a base, a carrying strap, and integral connecting links between the ends of the strap and the base. The base is larger in area than the strap, and the connections to the base are spaced apart at the base an amount substantially less than the length of the base. In preferred form the base is wider and stiffer or thicker than the strap,and it may but need not be longer. The links between the strap and the base are preferably relatively straight links which slope inwardly from the ends of the strap to the base. The two junctions at the ends of the strap and the two junctions at the base act as hinges which permit the strap to readily move toward or away from the base. The strap is preferably long enough so that it bends convexly upward when relieved of downward pressure. More particularly the strap is as long as the spacing between the outer ends of the hinged links when those links are folded 7 down to the base,'so that the handle may be flattened and" stored compactly when not in use. The overlapping panels of the box have slots which come substantially into registration. These'slots are generally rectangular and have a length and width which is smaller than that of the base of the handle, but the slots are large enough for the strap of the handle to be passed therethrough. The handle then is retained in position, unless intentionally pushed out of the slots.

The foregoing and additional features are described in the following detailed specification, which is accompanied by drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a bag box in open condition;

FIG. 2 shows the lower one of the top panels folded to closed position, with'the handle in place;

FIG. 3 shows the upper panel folded into closed position, with the handle drawn therethrough;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the bag box collapsed for shipment and storage;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the handle;

FIG. 6 is a front elevation of the handle;

FIG. 7 shows how the handle may be folded to flat condition;

FIG. 4, with'the handle folded flat; and a FIG. 9 is a fragmentary elevation showing a modified form of the handle.

Referring to the drawing, and more particularly to FIG. 1, the bag box here illustrated has two relatively stiff panels 12 and 14, which are overlapped when the box is closed as shown in FIG. 3. Such a bag box is commonly used by department stores and apparel stores. It has main sides 16 and 18 connected by folded edge panels 20 and a bottom panel 22. The top panels 12 and 14 are reinforced by glued pieces of cardboard, represented by the stippled areas shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. These top panels have slots 24 and 26 which come into registration when the top panels are overlapped in use.

It will be understood that the box or container need not be a bag box as here illustrated, but instead may be any form of openable container having a panel or panels which are to receive a handle.

Our improved handle is shown in preferred form in FIGS. 5- -8. It is a single molded body of flexible plastics material, and comprises a base 30, a carrying strap 32, and connecting links 34 between the ends of the strap and the base. The base 30 is larger in area than the strap 32, and the connections to the base are spaced apart at the base an amount substantially less than the length of the base, as shown at 36 in FIG. 6. The base 30, or at least the end portions 38 of the base, are wider than the strap 32, as shown in FIG. 5, and are preferably thicker than the strap 32, as shown in FIG. 6. The links 34 are relatively straight and slope inwardly from the ends of the strap to the base. The two junctions 40 at the ends of the strap as well as the two junctions at 36 act as hinges to permit the strap to move toward the base, as shown in FIG. 7, or away from the base as shown in FIG. 6. The strap 32 bends convexly upward as shown in FIG. 6, when relieved of downward pressure. Referring to FIG. 7, the strap 32 is preferably as long as the increasedspacing between the outer ends of the links 34 when the links are folded down to the base, in which case the handle may be flattened and stored compactly when not in use. This is in addition to the advantage of convexity shown in FIG. 6, because this convexity facilitates passing the strap through a receptive slot in the box panel.

As previously mentioned, the bag box is collapsed or flattened for shipment and storage, as shown in FIG. 4, and because the handle may be flattened as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, it does not appreciably increase the space required for a stack of collapsed boxes. FIG. 8 is a section taken approximately on the line 8-8 of FIG. 4, in which the handle has been passed through the slot 24 in the lower panel 12, while the slot 26 in the upper panel 14 is vacant. In FIG. 8 the thicknesses of the paper and the reinforcing cardboard have been exaggerated for clarity. The strap 32 of the handle is shown pressed down flat, as in storage, but it will be understood that when the folded box is being erected as in FIG. 2, the strap 32 bends convexly upward, and therefore it is an easy matter to pass it through the slot 26 of the upper panel 14. It is then anchored in both slots as shown in FIG. 3. Because the base of the handle is larger in area than the slots, it serves to close the slots. The handle remains anchored in position unless intentionally pushed back through one or both slots, because the slots are FIG. 8 is a section taken approximately on the line 8-8 of not much longer than the spacing between the junctions 36 (FIG. 6) of the handle, and the links 34 spread outward as shown, thereby retaining the handle.

A modified, but less preferred form of handle is shown in FIG. 9. Here again there is a strap portion 44 and a base 46 which is wider and thicker than the strap. The latter is connected to the base by inwardly sloping links 48. In FIG. 9 these links form a direct continuation of the strap 44, curved on a relatively large radius at 50. In this case the base 46 is shown longer than the strap 44. The strap 44 may be convex upwardly, as previously described in connection with FIG. 6, but whether convex or straight, the handle as a whole will not fold as flat as that shown in FIG. 6 because of the curvature at 50 (FIG. 9).

In FIGS. 5-5 the links 34 may have the same width and thickness as the strap 32, and then are much like extensions of the strap, but the junctions facilitate flattening of the handle. Indeed, the material at the junctions may be thinned somewhat, but this is not at all necessary.

It will be understood that the boxes and handles may be supplied separately to the store utilizing the same. In such case, it is less important to provide flattening of the handle, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, because the handles may be shipped loosely in a box, but even in such case the convexity of strap 32 shown in FIG. 7, still has the advantage of facilitating passage of the handle through a slot. 1

Heretofore the box manufacturer has preferred to ship the boxes and handles separately in order to avoid the cost of hand labor in adding the handles to the boxes. This task was tedious with the flexible cord heretofore used, but is much speedier with the present handle, and it therefore becomes economically feasible for the box manufacturer to supply the I box with the handle previously added to one panel, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 8. This may be preferred by the store management, if obtainable at slight extra cost, because it saves the time of the counter girl for insertion of the handle through the first or lower slot. (She still passes the handle through the upper panel when closing the box.)

The material used for the handle is preferably a low density polyethylene. For greater strength it may be made out of a linear or a high density polyethylene, but that is somewhat more costly, and is less flexible. It is readily molded with the strap and base perpendicular to the parting face of the mold.

it is believed that the construction and method of use of our improved box and box handle, as well as the advantages thereof, will be apparent from the foregoing detailed description. The handle is low in cost; easy to insert; remains anchored in position; and may be preliminarily anchored in one panel at the box factory without excessive increase in cost. The handle is easily pushed through the slot because there is no tight slit, as previously used. Nevertheless, the slot is closed off by the base of the handle so that there is no opening through the box exposing its contents. Because the handle is made of a plastics material it may be supplied in any desired color. The handle may be made large enough in size to readily receive the fingers of a person carrying the box, and because the strap is wide, it is comfortable to hold.

it will be understood that although we have shown and described our improvement in preferred forms, changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. A handle for a package, said handle being a single molded body of a flexible plastics material, and comprising a base, a carrying strap, and connecting links between the ends of the strap and the base, said base being larger in area than said strap, and said connections to the base being more flexible than said base and spaced apart at the base an amount substantially less than the length of the base.

2. A handle as defined in claim 1, in which at least the end portions of the base are wider and thicker than the strap.

3. A handle as defined in claim 1, in which the base is wider and longer and stiffer than the strap.

4. A handle as defined in claim 1, in which the links are relatively straight and slope inwardly from the ends of the strap to the base, and in which the two junctions at the ends of the strap and the two junctions at the base act as hinges to permit the strap to move toward or away from the base.

5. A handle as defined in claim 4, in which the strap is as long as the spacing between the outer ends of the links when the links are folded down to the base, whereby the handle may be flattened and stored compactly when not in use.

6. A handle as defined in claim 1, in which the strap is as long as the spacing between the outer ends of the links when the links are folded down to the base, whereby the handle may be flattened and stored compactly when not in use.

7. In combination, a handle as defined in claim 1, and an openable container having two relatively stiff overlapping panels, saidpanels having slots which come substantially into registration when the panels are overlapped in use, said slots being generally rectangular and having a length and width which are smaller than that of the base of the handle but iarge enough for the strap of the handle to be passed therethrough.

8. In combination, a handle as defined in claim 2, and an openable container having two relatively stiff overlapping panels, said panels having slots which come substantially into registration when the panels are overlapped in use, sai 1 slots being generally rectangular and having a length and width which are smaller than that of the base of the handle but large enough for the strap of the handle to be passed therethrough.

9. In combination, a handle as defined in claim 4, and an openable container having two relatively stiff overlapping panels, said panels having slots which come substantially into registration when the panels are overlapped in use, said slots being generally rectangular and having a length and width which are smaller than that of the base of the handle but large enough for the strap of the handle to be passed therethrou h.

10. In combination, a handle as defined in claim 5, an an openable container having two relatively stiff overlapping panels, said panels having slots which come substantially into registration when the panels are overlapped in use, said slots being generally rectangular and having a length and width which are smaller than that of the base of the handle but large enough for the strap of the handle to be passed therethrough. 

